Coulthard Wants Future Clarified

In the wake of the driver shake-up for Imola, with Vitantonio Liuzzi taking over the team's second car from Christian Klien for the next three races, team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has been reported as saying that the two youngsters will be the team's two race drivers next season.

Referring to the long-time Red Bull-backed Klien and Liuzzi, he was quoted as saying in Gazzetta dello Sport: "Next year, they will be the team's two drivers."

Should that situation pan out, then it would obviously leave no room for Coulthard - who has impressed many onlookers with his strong performances in the first three races of the year.

And, well aware that there are unlikely to be many other options for him elsewhere on the grid if Red Bull decide to drop him, Coulthard's future in Formula One almost certainly depends on convincing the outfit to keep him on board.

Speaking exclusively to Autosport-Atlas during testing at Barcelona in Spain this week, Coulthard made it clear that he would hold fire on making a reaction to the statement until he had clarified the comments with Mateschitz himself.

He also made it clear that he was far from decided about his plans beyond the end of this season.

"I haven't decided anything about my future," said Coulthard. "If he (Mateschitz) said it, then I want to clarify my situation."